The town's mayor isn't exactly thrilled with the idea, but the developer is pressing on.
An Allentown developer would like to move forward with plans to put a motel on a Norton Partnership property in Phillipsburg.
Joe Clark said his Lehigh Land Developers subsidiary would convert the structures already on the business park property into a Motel 6 with 54 to 58 rooms, with parking for 120 cars.
The property at 540 Marshall St., which is across the street from the defunct oil company, was zoned for a motel when Clark bought Richard Norton's mortgage on the 1.96-acre property about a block south of Memorial Parkway, he said.
But the zoning has changed in the past three years, he said.
He got the mortgage in a way he gets many properties, he said. He works with banks when mortgages are distressed, buys the debt and eventually gets the properties with the goal of improving them and making money from them, he said.
Clark is the owner of the old Crocodile Rock building in Allentown.
He said he liked the location in Phillipsburg, especially with no other motel or hotel in the town and the closest one being the Phillipsburg Inn on Route 22 nearer Interstate 78 in Greenwich Township.
He said there's a market for a motel now with plans for an aquarium to open in Easton in 2021 and the Ingersoll-Rand redevelopment in Phillipsburg underway again.
"I think I'm filling in a good need there," he said.
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Phillipsburg Mayor Stephen Ellis, who wasn't thrilled with a motel on that property -- he said he'd rather see a hotel at a "more strategic" location in town -- has met briefly with Clark but the planning process has yet to formally begin, he said.
Clark said he has another meeting set for Feb. 14 with town officials.
He likely will have to go through the planning and rezoning process, but if gets the OK on Feb. 14, he'll be ready with "trailers and Dumpsters" the next day to begin to gut the structures, he said.
"The buildings are in great shape," he said.
In an ad for the sale of 540 Marshall St. in Phillipsburg, developer Joe Clark suggests a Motel 6 would look like this on the property. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com) The first step would be filing papers with the land-use board, Ellis said.
Clark said he has financing and has spoken with Motel 6. He'll work on the project with his son, Joe Jr., he said.
A lien holder has been paying the taxes on the property, town Tax Collector Sandy Callery said, but the name of that entity doesn't match Clark's various businesses, she said. She wouldn't name the lien holder.
During Richard Norton's bankruptcy, it was determined Norton personally guaranteed unsecured liabilities of $1.97 million, including $1.3 million owed to Clark. Norton hasn't paid anything toward the taxes or toward the mortgage, Clark said.
Since numerous customers of the oil company paid ahead for oil and never received it, Clark said he's prepared to bring foreclosure action if necessary. At the moment, he said, the family has signed over the property but he has yet to file the documents.
A member of the Norton family who shares an address in Maryland with Neil Norton, who is a listed principal of The Norton Partnership, didn't immediately return a phone call.
"On the surface," it looks as if the property wouldn't be an asset that can be taken by other creditors, Clark said.
"If they (the Nortons) didn't disclose other debt on their matrix (during bankruptcy), I might have to go through foreclosure" to protect his investment, he said.
He would have considered a Studio 6 long-term-stay motel, but the town didn't like the idea, so he's going with a motel, Clark said. He'd like to partner with someone with motel expertise, but he's ready to run it himself, he added.
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Or, he'll sell it.
A CraigsList ad that's appeared in the last day offers the site for $2 million in its current state or $5.6 million finished.
The latest property assessment is $1,197,300, with taxes of $46,359.46, Norton Partnership records show.
Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.